TFF's Official RPing Academy

[Blacksmith]

Closed.

[T.G. Oskar]

Guess I should do a secondary post. Some examples seem to be missing, but that I presume I'll leave to Vicious to complete.

Might begin by addressing something in the area of min-maxing. Min-maxing belongs often to a certain group of RPers. These are comprised of the optimizers, the powergamers and the munchkins.

Forum RP is a free form style of writing, where you make a character and assume its "Role" to interact with a shared world. Most of the time, you seek to have more roleplay and less roleplay battle, where your character can truly show itself, where you can assume some positions that otherwise you wouldn't assume.

However, sometimes it's painful to see characters that have only a sentence of background and paragraphs of detailed description about their combat skills. For RPB, this is wonderful, but for RP, it's not so much. The min-maxers and their cousins (which are taken mostly from the cousin of forum roleplay, the pen and paper roleplay) often belong to this area.

Optimizers seek to make effective characters, seeking to be as most balanced as possible. While, say, having electricity powers can only take you so far (and maybe leave you with a rather punishing weakness), you can work around that aspect and acquire other aspects from that same set of skills. Fire can do more than burn, ice can do more than freeze water and shatter, and the like. An optimizer, in forum RP, seeks to do as much as it can with a small set of tools, giving good descriptions of what it can do with such tools. At times, they can do stuff that may look a bit out of place (like, using fire to produce steam and hence take out other fire users). Other times, they give so much importance to what they can do with their limited set of skills that they forget to take care of their weaknesses. But they are fast learners.

Min-maxers are pretty much self-explanatory: balance the best maxes with the lesser minimums. The problem lies in using loopholes: you can say you're a specialist in fire, but have a serious problem against water, and against the lack of oxygen. But if you seek to have a mastery over void, for example, and you deem the only weakness to be, say, love, then it makes for an odd weakness and hence the maximum becomes overpowered. It's not wrong to have weaknesses: working around severe weaknesses enhances character development. But using loopholes seems kinda stupid.

Powergamers get the tools to win. Simple as that, even in RPs. They get the Ultima Weapons, the Lances of Kain, the Adamamtium Alloy Armors, the infinite scrolls of Ultima, and the like. They get this urge for power, and care little for balance. And this is a no-no. No person likes a powergamer. Because powergamers see others as competition, and this ruins everyone's fun.

And then...comes the munchkin. A typical munchkin character looks like this:

Name: Irrelevant
Race: God
Class: Creator and Destroyer
Height: Irrelevant
Weight: Irrelevant

Background: He's God, can't you see?

Skills:
I WIN: I use it, I win the battle. Simple as that.

Munchkins are the bane of everyone, people. Worse than powergamers. A munchkin is the kind of person who violates all the other rules, since it has perfect powers of prediction, omnipresence (meaning they can be anywhere they want), infinite power, and the like. If you follow just a few of the examples of bad-roleplaying, it's a problem. If you follow them all, constantly, you might be a munchkin. Munchkins are the worst min-maxers, the ultimate powergamers.

Wanted to add the last three as an example of bad roleplaying, and the first one as an example of good character development. There is no problem on having an interesting character with a wide variety of skills and powers to its disposal: the free-form nature of forum roleplay allows it. But, since forum roleplay is based mostly on quality and not on quantity, it's more important to have quality character development than poor character development. And quality character development leads to a great character background, which is one of the key points of the Academy.

In summary: do not fall into the trap of min-maxing, or going the other ways of powergaming or become a bad munchkin. Optimize your character story to blend with what you've already got: explain how the powers were acquired, give them more meaning than just tools for battle.

[OmniTense]

The greatest hindrance to an RP and our main enemy are those who establish themselves as main characters, do an excellent job but disappear/stop caring towards the conclusion of the RP.


Hello, by the way.

-Sin

[Blacksmith]

Well yeah, those people who become main characters just lose interest like most people do. In just about any RP that starts getting good, things always seem to go downhill. The problem is that these kinds of people are the only ones doing anything in an RP with a determination to see it through. They feel like they're the ones with the whole RP on their backs as they watch everyone else 'mingle'' together without helping the RP whatsoever. In all honesty, the hindrance doesn't come from them, but the other role-players who sidetrack the RP with pointless actions and dialogue.

Hello to you too, lol.

[OmniTense]

Granted, but there are those who I think just become bored and leave the RP dead. I know, I've been one once. It's really hard when no one shows up and posts and the RP mutually extinguishes itself. Some may say it's because it was a bad RP, but I don't think that's always the case. When you start an RP you have to be devoted to finishing it as well. Or at least those are my thoughts on the subject.

-Sin

[Ghost]

Generally, I find that also happens when the plot-line for the RP is too in depth. If there is too much to it, it sometimes takes only the most devoted RPers to actually become interested in it. Sometimes this is due to a lack of understanding or a fear of commitment. That is why simply plotted RPs often have the most 'hits,' but with this pro there comes another con. If it is TOO simple, you will find the forum littered with newbs (and munchkins, as you put it). That is why it is best to have a semi-complex, semi-simple RP with a few guidelines and requirements for joining.
That's my opinion anyways.

...

Hey, I'm Ghost, Level 7 Student

[T.G. Oskar]

Alright gents, and all staff and students. This is important.

At any moment after this post is concluded, Fuzz may load into the forums the Roleplay Academy. This will all be nice and well, but there'll be a small problem, which is that Vicious will not be for some time. I speak of small because I expect to cover enough to start the operations underway.

The few things to know as of now are the following: there is a world constructed specifically for the Academy, so expect all missions and settings to take place in this world. Once the forum goes, I'll make up a few "missions", so to speak, detailing the nature of introductory posts. As well, I'll work around the nature of the world, and give a small description that will surely grow with time.

The Academy is expected to have a setting incarnation, to serve as the link between the members and the characters, and to add a bit more to the feel. The world will be somewhat based on Ivalice, and some of the three continents of such world will be there (namely, Ivalice, Ordallia and Rozarria), but the world WILL be significantly different. You'll see as I describe a bit more.

This part is a bit left to my discretion, so...since most of the works will be with shaping characters good enough to participate in actual RPs and RPBs, I'll be making a thread for Academy-only characters. Do not add powers, skills or descriptions, or anything at the matter, until the intro post mission is achieved. (In other words, consider the description of your character in the intro post as a mission, and take that as the reward for the mission. If you're succesful, that is)

Staff, once the forum is up, I'd like to have a small discussion via MSN, or PM if you feel comfortable with it, to discuss further missions and whether the char thread is a go or no-go. Also, discussing the world as it is, and explaining a bit the mechanics over it.

[DragonHeart]

Originally Posted by Sinister

When you start an RP you have to be devoted to finishing it as well.

Therein lies the heart of the problem. For the average poster, starting an RP always sounds like great fun, a way to pass the time on a slow afternoon or whatever. But then they make that first post, and another, and another, and then they realize they didn't think about the fact that an RP is a lengthy, involved process. Suddenly it seems more effort than it's worth, and that's why so many just fizzle out after a few pages.

Same with the TOA, for that matter. The first round or two goes smoothly, then half the people just seem to drop off the face of the planet, and before you know it there's three people left and the tournament's six months over the projected timeline.

This is why I'm toying with the idea for an RP equivalent of a short story. Something that isn't plotless but can still be wrapped up in say, 15-20 posts. I think the length is the key factor, so keeping it short and sweet should make things far more manageable. I'm planning on a test run once I get my computer back, or maybe sooner depending on how things work out.

~DragonHeart~

[T.G. Oskar]

Whew, finally!!

Alright, so the forums are up and running, and the first mission is already done. The rules are a bit odd, so I'll place the disclaimer here: these rules are preliminary. When Vicious returns, I'll discuss them with him, and I'll change as needed. So for the moment, all members will only post in the Intro Post thread, students in a compulsory (read: you must) way, and teachers as they are needed. Later, I'll make the Academy character thread, so that students have their representation, their "Avatar" within the Academy (and so do the teachers), once a few people pass the mission.

I need to know the opinion of a single character for the Academy from the other staff members. Anomaly has already expressed his support, and I also approve of the idea, but perhaps other people may have opinions. As well, discussions about the world of Terran Fas Fafner are officially open. I'll make later on a thread in the TFF World forum detailing what's so far on the world, but here's a small preview: the towns and cities so far in Ivalice:

Midland: Academy goes here. It's basically your small academy town, full of supply shops, a tavern (Aces, Deuces and Triads), two rival blacksmiths, and a small population. More than half of the town is comprised of the Academy; the town was made by the people that decided to live close by and benefit from the travel route to the Academy.

White Bay: Basically, one of the main port cities of Ivalice. The world is rather odd, since it's not a set of continents but a supercontinent divided by a massive crevasse in the land, making the landmasses. Also, the advent of airships have made sea travel a bit outdated. However, it is still a very important port for established sailors and merchant marines. It's a trade city, and one of the largest providers of foreign goods.

Babelot: Capital of Ivalice. The funds come mostly from this large metropolis, although the Academy is officially neutral.

[Blacksmith]

Excellent. You've done great in starting this thing, Oskar. Luckily, I'll be coming home today so expect me to be stomping the pedal to really get this thing going.

I'd also like to apologize to some of the members for the lateness of finally opening this academy. A lot of people have been looking forward to doing this and the issues we've faced over the past couple of weeks have brought things down and decreased the amount of anxious waiting. As such, I'm going to be working double time to see that things get the jump start they need once I'm back home. Expect many more things to be added within the next few days.

[Silver]

I also support the idea of a single character.
It might mean more character development as the user would be pretty much forced to stick with his/her character.

Originally Posted by Oskar

As well, discussions about the world of Terran Fas Fafner are officially open.

Sweet. I'll look into typing up some ideas sooner rather than later, which I'll send to either you or Vicious via MSN. If you like any, feel free to use them. If you don't like them, that's cool too. Either way.

[Mistress Sheena]

I do not support the idea of a single character. You have to learn sooner or later to create different characters for different RPs. Although since this is in the same world, I suppose the same character would be alright.